Can searches and other conveyancing stuff be re-used

[roastednut]

The house we are hoping to buy has had a previous sale fall through right at the last minute due to a chain breaking down. The owner has suggested that for speed we look into using same solicitors as previous buyers as we might be able to use same search info etc.
Obviously it's shit for the previous buyers but I wondered is this something that can be done? If it is then maybe we could refund the original buyers some fees that they've lost (I've been there myself and lost hundreds when a sale fell through so I know I'd have appreciated that).

I'm buying the searches and survey off buyers who dropped out of the purchase. I'm not using the same solicitor. As the council (or some other independent party) produces the searches and the survey is recent why not? The previous people get some of their money back and you get the benefit of not having to wait. Your own solicitor can then review the documents. Obviously the previous buyers have to agree, but can't see why they wouldn't.

We are buying a doer upper and the previous buyer pulled out due to finances. I would have bought the survey but they are only valid for 3 months and we were 3 and a half months after it had been done. But the surveyor did it for cheap for us as he only needed to pop in and check all was as before.

I think our searches came back very quickly too

Thanks for the responses so far

The solicitor will have to go over everything and raise enquiries again, so it won’t make much difference using the same one.

@Livingintheclouds

I'm buying the searches and survey off buyers who dropped out of the purchase. I'm not using the same solicitor. As the council (or some other independent party) produces the searches and the survey is recent why not? The previous people get some of their money back and you get the benefit of not having to wait. Your own solicitor can then review the documents. Obviously the previous buyers have to agree, but can't see why they wouldn't.

If you buy someone else's survey off them you have no recourse with the surveyor if they missed something.

yes you can.
our previous buyers had to pull out as one of the party lost their job just before exchange.
the next buyer bought the survey and searches off them and the sale went through a lot quicker (weeks).

that was before covid though.

@QueenStromba they cover their asses so well I've never been able to challenge a surveyor! I have enough experience that I can pretty much see myself what's what, but the survey can be good for renegotiating, and I'm not an expert on drains and such.
I buy with cash and normally use a builder friend. I've never had any surprises since I started to understand the limitations of what even a full structural survey entails.

You need to consider what type of searches they are and how old they are. If you are having a mortgage you need to check whether the searches are personal (through a search agent) and if the lender accepts these. A lender also requires searches to be valid at the time of completion so you want to make sure they are not too old.